“Healthy” online courses at work

I am guessing most everyone has some programs at work where you can earn points or credits and then these credits are exchanged for some sort of benefit. At my work if I earn enough points or credits I can make an additional $400.

Some of it is really silly, like I talk to a health “coach” about once a month. Some are really good like how I can earn points for getting a physical and blood work done. And after eating Paleo now for about six months I would really like to compare my blood work to pre-Paleo. I just so happened to get a physical maybe a month before my first Whole 30 which is when I went Paleo.

But the silliest of the ways to earn points is to take online courses….which of course I can skip completely and go straight to the quiz. What sort of benefit this does for me, I am not sure? Here are some of the choice questions I found:

2. Tony is feeling hungry and wants to eat a small, healthy snack to help fill him up. Which of the following snacks is the best choice for Tony?
A. A banana
B. A candy bar
C. A bag of potato chips
D. Half a whole wheat bagel with a teaspoon of peanut butter
E. “A” and “D” are both good snack choices – This was the correct answer

**We all know better, don’t we? We know that the bagel is nothing more than highly processed sugar and full of gluten. The peanut butter is the opposite of whole foods, which, surprisingly, the quizzes mentioned over and over.

6. Sam, Lucy, Joe, and Ella have each chosen a snack to eat between their lunch and dinner. Of the 4 friends, who has chosen the unhealthiest snack?
A. Sam has chosen to eat 2 coconut cookies and a high-energy drink – this was the correct answer
B. Lucy has chosen to eat 3 apricots and a small tub of low-fat yogurt.
C. Joe has chosen to eat a small baked potato with fat-free cottage cheese.
D. Ella has chosen to eat a handful of almonds and 4 whole wheat crackers

**I don’t know about you, but none of those look good to me. Cookies is obvious, but low fat yogurt is processed dairy and pretty much everyone is lactose intolerant, a baked potato is highly glycemic and why eat four wheat crackers? Again, highly processed sugars.

7. Which of these groups of foods is the healthiest choice when selecting nutritious snacks?
A. Sugary or salty foods
B. Meat and dairy products
C. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains – this was the correct answer
D. Processed foods that have a long shelf life
E. Convenience foods that you can eat quickly

**Yes, I got penalized when I completed a survey regarding what I eat, how much exercise I get and other “healthy” questions because I don’t eat grains. Unfortunately most of the USA is still under the belief they need to eat “wheat bread” to be healthy.

**Sugar? Check. Salt? Maybe. Fat? Hold on a minute. The quizzes are telling me that grains = good and fat = bad. Thankfully they don’t have me hooked up to a lie detector as I complete the quiz because I have to pick answers I do not agree with.

4. Some useful safety tips to keep in mind when starting strength training include: Do each exercise through the greatest pain-free range of motion that you can, do each exercise slowly enough to keep control of the weight, make sure you are using the proper equipment, use only the muscles you are targeting to do the exercise, and never hold your breath.
True – this was the correct answer
False

**Doesn’t really follow CrossFit’s idea of how to get stronger. Sure, ROM is great and keeping away from pain is also nice, but who needs to move slowly to build strength? I guess those Olympic lifters aren’t building strength properly because they are moving 300 pounds in less than a second.